Also a few pics of Challenge truck progress/inspiration.
Also a few pics of Challenge truck progress/inspiration.
Lof8 wrote: Also a few pics of Challenge truck progress/inspiration.
Looking mucho dope!!
Took home the Modified Rear season points! The class will be a bit tougher this season with several new miata guys and several drivers moving up from the lower rear-drive classes. I'm hoping to remain competitive with the V8 power!
The flares aren't just for looks :) I was bleeding the ooze out of the brake lines at the same time. New fluid did very little to help the soft brake pedal. I've read that these trucks have a very primitive ABS system that works only on the rear wheels?? There is a pretty simple DIY to delete the ABS and supposedly firms up the pedal greatly. Thats my next project along with some wheel spacers to fill out the flares better.
With Challenge duties being taken over by the Chevy, it's time to do something about the shot konis and Ebay coilovers junk suspension on the miata. She got some nice Vmaxx. I gave it a test at the Brooksville autox today. They really have an incredible range of ride height and stiffness adjustment.
I have no positive progress to post about the ranger, so I'll post a good pic of the heavy Chevy. Rear spacers and wheels are now on.
I'm seriously digging the chevy. Your thread here has me thinking. I've got an old seriously beat up Dakota R/T I paid almost nothing for. It's been sitting long enough that it either has to get turned into something or hauled off. It's a heavy truck (it is a dodge) but is has a decent rear axle with a LSD. Already has a 360 V8 buts its attached to an autoslushbox trans. Any thoughts on making the Dakota a rally crosser?
In reply to appliance_racer: I'd check with your local group to see if it's legal. Some groups are ok with trucks and some frown on it. Lowering it a little would help. I don't think you'll be real competitive with a full size truck, but I do know you'll have a lot of fun!
Long story short, were admitting defeat trying to get the wiring harnesses integrated and get the EFI functioning properly. It fought us for months. The Ranger is getting a Holley 570 carb and we're hoping to be rallying 2/25 at the FIRM!
Extended beams for the Ranger are also in the works. Adding 4" of length to the beams and adding 1" of backspace to the wheels for a total of 3" of added track width on each side. The goal is less scrub radius and better control under braking (along with wider stance for more stability and roll-over resistance). I'm thinking some fox coilovers also.
I'm really digging the Chevy Challenge truck. What size tires and rims did you go with?
Nothing new to report on the Ranger 
But the Chevy now has tight steering, wheels properly spaced, and some 4 point harnesses. Its ready to start seeing how it performs in some autocrosses!
4Msfam wrote: I'm really digging the Chevy Challenge truck. What size tires and rims did you go with?
wheels are 17"x9" and tires are 275/40/17 Riken Raptors. They were near the bottom of the price range. Depending on well this thing actually autocrosses, I may put some better tires on before the Challenge.
i like the extended beams. Are they cast units?
JGRAHAM wrote: i like the extended beams. Are they cast units?
The desert prerunner guys say you have to start with the early forged beams, the cast units are not up to the task. So these are the forged ones.
That Chevy looks awesome dumped like that.
I have some Rally Ranger news to report!: In regard to the engine/carb/running: The intake manifold for the carb setup was just a bit thinner than the efi manifold. This was causing the bolts to bottom in their holes just a hair before actually getting the manifold/gaskets fully tight against the heads. Added some washers, and finally we have consistent manifold vacuum! Fingers crossed that final tuning is close! And also, the extended beams are looking pretty:
The SCCA is hosting a wild weekend of Club Racing, Autocross, and Rallycross at Daytona International Speedway on May 6 and 7. New rallycross venues are pretty rare and this sounds really fun, so I do not want to miss it!! The plan is to use the v8 ranger on its current suspension. If, for some E36 M3ty reason, its still not driveable, I will be renting something to participate with.
So after many many hours trying to tune this engine, we finally performed a leak down test, and its bad. It passed a couple of compression tests with flying colors but the leakdown revealed some bad oil rings. This was leading to constant fouled plugs and what we thought were rich conditions. Engines getting pulled for another 95 mustang lump. We cut the radiator support to make ins and outs much easier.
In reply to Lof8:
I 100% want to participate in the woodsman cup! How can i get more info? I have wanted to start something like that in FL.
In reply to B13Birk:
Join "the woodsman cup" group on Facebook for date updates. The organizer has moved to California, so the dates move around each time based on when he comes back to FL.
In reply to Lof8:
Right on thanks for the info man! I have talked to the Firm about getting something like that going out there. They have said they would be interested in talking about it if the interest existed. I had no idea that there was already a group doing stuff like this in FL. I got the idea from this : AfterShock Sydney 2017
I hope to see you out in the ranger soon. We are at the Firm often.
Aftershock and Woodsman appear to be very similar events! You'll love the Woodsman! Are you going to be at the Daytona Rallyx this weekend? I'll be there in the red miata.
In reply to Lof8:
Man I hate to hear the bad news on the motor. At least 302s are a dime a dozen. Keep up the great work!
In reply to Lof8:
Oh yeah im all in if that is the case. I am ready to go for the Woodsman at the drop of the hat. I miss my MX days. Yeah we will be there Saturday and Sunday in a white Impreza. Ill keep my eyes out for you my friend. <img src="
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Picked up another 95 mustang long block, so hopefully the Ranger will be running strong soon. In the mean time, extended beams, steering tie-rod adjusters, and early model spindles are shipping from Cali today!
Also spun the coils up on the miata and craigslisted a mis-matched set of snow tires to do the 2-day rallycross on the Daytona infield. It was super fun, mostly because the cfr rallycross is a great group of people. The speedway officials really wanted to keep us under close watch. The course was super tight and mostly done in 1st gear. :(
And seriously considering this ex-dirt track neon to give the local asphalt circle track series a try. So far, he hasn't budged from $2k but I'm letting him wait a couple weeks before making another offer.
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